crackling

Etymology

noun

1. (cooking, often in the plural, US) Fat that, after roasting a joint, hardens and crispens
2. (cooking, in the singular in Britain) The crispy rind of roast pork.
   To make chicken crackling, use 500 g (1 lb 1V2 oz) chicken skin. Wash and remove excess fats. 2011-02-28, Arlene Diego, Step by Step Cooking Filipino: Delightful Ideas for Everyday Meals, Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd, page 54
3. (cooking, countable) A crispy, fried skin or rind, especially of pork.
   ... but often forgotten are the equally delicious chicken cracklings. In this recipe, baguette slices spread with a delicious maple and sea salt butter are baked, then topped with crispy pan-fried chicken skin, sweet soft dates,[…] 2016-10-04, Eva Kosmas Flores, Adventures in Chicken: 150 Amazing Recipes from the Creator of AdventuresInCooking.com, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, page 26
4. The making of small, sharp cracks or reports, frequently repeated.
   the bangs and cracklings of fireworks
5. (obsolete, usually in the plural) Food for dogs, made from the refuse of tallow melting.
6. Three stripes of velvet worn on the sleeves of students at St John's College, Cambridge.

adj

1. Sounding with small, sharp cracks or reports, frequently repeated.
   —With wreathing spire Up went the crackling flame,—and that old man Forgetful of his anguish, boldly cried —"Courage, my brother!—we this day will light Such fire in christendom, as ne'er shall die." 1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, Latimer and Ridley, page 68

verb

1. present participle and gerund of crackle